[opendtv] Re: STB hunting
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 10:29:48 -0500
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> As for the receiver mandate, Mark accurately portrayed
> the reality. The marketplace is moving to monitors,
I don't think Mark made that point. He simply said that
there were many monitors on the market. The open question
is whether these are older models primarily, or whether
they are taking over.
I'll bet you that ATSC-less monitors will suffer the same
fate as NTSC-less monitors did 20 years ago. And the
reason is, as it was 20 years ago, that the receiver adds
only a negligible amount to the price, and consumers
have no reason to ask for less value.
> NOw, given this reality, WHY would broadcasters want to
> compete with cable and DBS?
It's so simple, Craig. They aren't competing against
cable. They are simply adding more viewers. Either adding
viewers with portable TVs, e.g. allowing them to watch
while cooking dinner, or adding viewers who would
otherwise not be watching TV at all. From that 15 to 20
percent who won't subscribe to a TV service.
> Second, there is no viable market for ATSC STBs.
You can repeat this, but it doesn't make it correct. The
market can exist today, and will exist when analog is shut
off. Now that STBs with good performance can be built, at
reasonable price points, they can sell. Radio Shack has the
proof. I'm not sure why you have to pretend it's not there.
> You mean like offering the content that is now available
> only to subscribers of multi-channel services?
There are so many possibilities I don't know where to
begin. An obvious one might be to transmit shows that aired
on cable one or more seasons ago. But I'm thinking more
along the lines of material that isn't available on cable.
Shows from other countries. A subchannel of daily news
shows from around the world. A subchannel of old TV shows
or old movies or movies that are only on DVD. And on and on.
Who pays? Advertizers.
> What do you think the average Gainesville consumer today
> would think of a CE salesperson who suggests that they
> invest hundreds of dollars in a 30-50 foot tower to
> receive DTV broadcasts?
I have no idea about the average Gainesville consumer, but
obviously there's no need to install any 30' tower. I see
no 30' towers anywhere in our neighborhood.
Bert
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